A Crow Flies North

Terrific stuff, Tom.
A few quick thoughts:

1) Although the use of assorted bits of post-structuralist (etc) theory in the pop press was largely less than rigorous, (as somebody doesn’t find reading Derrida fun – I know some people do) I certainly found it a helpful starting point went I on to study that kind of stuff at university.

2) I really like “Pick Your Fights” as the subheading for the Turner Prize fiasco. What’s weird about the whole thing is that the new-rules (youngish artists only) prize had only been going for three years at this point, and so didn’t quite have an identity yet – the first four winners were (broadly) sculptors. I’m far from convinced that Drummond and Cauty really had any kind of proper critique of contemporary art.

3) I’m pretty sure there was real Finnish garage rock – it’s on the soundtrack of Kaurismaki films and Peel used to play some. I suspect faking it was more fun than digging around.

#4 Yes you’re right! I thought of adding it in later but I had only the *very* dimmest memories of it, I was never really into it: that dude with the pipe was one of the great pre-Internet memes, though of course we didn’t know such words then.

“Poseur” is a harsh if accurate summary I think ;) Like most 16-18 year olds (I’d guess) I genuinely felt my mind was being expanded by all this stuff, and it probably was. I wonder what the 2011 equivalent list would include?